The author of The American Catholic Experience: A History from Colonial Times to the Present, history professor Jay Dolan caps decades of writing and teaching with this sweeping chronicle of the Irish experience in the United States. His vivid narrative follows the Irish in America from the first wave of immigration in 1729 through the bleak days of the potato famine, the years of ethnic prejudice and "No Irish Need Apply," and the rise of Irish political power and the heyday of Tammany politics, to the moment when John F. Kennedy was elected to the presidency. Dolan evokes ghastly immigrant ships crowded with men and women, the vibrant life of Catholic parishes in cities like New York and Chicago, and the world of machine politics, where ward bosses often held court in the local saloon.

"An impressive synthesis of recent scholarship and his own lifelong research, [this] is the ideal book for Americans of Irish descent who want to learn more about what being 'Irish American' really means."—Kerby Miller

"Jay Dolan has written a superb history of the Irish in this country, both scholarly and popular. Indeed on publication it became the best available story of the Irish in America. He covers the poverty of the immigrants, their loyalty to one another, their struggles to create a place for themselves in this country against intense hostility and deep-seated prejudice, and their ultimate success despite all their enemies. The book explains why so many Americans who have an option to choose their own ethnic identity decide that they want to be Irish."—Andrew M. Greeley